Power of the Broken
by icoffeeyarncomics
Summary: With Lydia's 18th birthday quickly approaching things seem to be pushing her to the brink, something has to push back or she will snap and fall into the void of insanity. Will the echos of her past come back to save her or will they be the final piece that pushes her over the edge with no hope of return. Beetlejuice/Lydia
1. Chapter 1

Power of the Broken

Chapter One: The Beginning of the End

Lydia drew in a shuddering breath, her body trembling as she tried to hold it together. This wasn't real, this wasn't happening. After everything that she had been through in her 17 almost 18 years of life… this was not what she had ever imagined would happen. She had thought her nightmares were over.

She could feel the cold steel of the handcuffs biting into her wrists, she rubbed them hard just to feel the pain lancing through her, trying to snap her out of this nightmare. But it only served to bring her back to reality.

It was real.

This was happening and she was powerless to stop it.

She could feel the hands on her upper arms, pulling her toward a car. One that would take her to a hospital. One that she was never going to be able to walk back out of.

She turned looking at the porch of the house, seeing Delia standing there with a satisfied smirk on her face. Her father nowhere in sight. The bile rose in her throat. This was all her doing. She fought to keep on her own two feet as she was literally drug away from her home.

She could hear the snickering and comments from the attendants standing around waiting for her to be transported.

"Ain't she the crazy one from a couple years back"

"Bitch is finally getting what she deserves"

"Crazy must run in the family, look at what they say her mother did all those years ago."

Lydia's throat was tight as she fought through the tears that were threatening to fall, she couldn't give them the satisfaction to think that they had won. She had long been the butt of people's jokes and harassment.

It felt like an eternity before they arrived at a stark grey building, small windows filling up floor after floor. Her heart was in her throat as she tried to keep from showing how much this was scaring her.

How had it come to this?

First the Maitland's had left, not wanting to spend their afterlife in a house that was becoming more and more hostile, she had felt abandoned all over again.

Her father had started drinking, ignoring her to the point where Lydia had started to feel like a ghost herself in her own home.

Then came Delia… it had started off with small things, not including Lydia in 'family' things, forgetting to tell her that meals were ready, forgetting to tell her that they had made plans and left without telling her. Then Delia had managed to get pregnant and once the baby had been born… things went down hill fast.

She'd never been allowed in the same room as her baby half-sister, let alone having even touched the baby. She'd been told that the baby was… delicate and too sensitive to her horrible aura.

It had hurt at first, but she found that with her father's drinking and Delia's attention being solely on the new baby her new found freedom had left her with a peace she'd never had before.

And then all that came crumbling down

She'd come home to her father having a shouting match with someone in his study. She'd crept through the darkened hallway to listen. What came next had shattered her very being.

"What do you mean she's not mine! "her father had roared. She'd immediately thought that meant that the new baby with Delia wasn't his… had her stepmother cheated?! The next words that she heard changed it all.

"Who is Lydia's father then!" She hadn't been able to hear the reply.

She had frozen there in the hallway, not able to get away when the door flung open and a man in a suit stepped out leaving her face to face with her father… the man she had thought was her father. Her eyes had locked with his and she could see something on his face she'd never seen before.

Disgust.

She did the only thing that she could think to do… she ran.

She didn't come home for three days and when she finally did, her father was no where to be seen and Delia had smiled viciously at her. She knew then that her life would never be the same… she had just never imagined it would have led to this.

Lydia was brought out of her memories when she was yanked up out of the car and led through various locked and guarded doors. It felt like a prison. But she knew it wasn't… it was worse.

It was a psychiatric Hospital.

hr

Time was something he wasn't sure of anymore… had it been days, weeks or fucking years? He wasn't had no way to tell. Not since he'd been sent back to god forsaken grave… again. Betelgeuse figured he should be grateful for that at least. Instead of being exorcised out of existence, which is what the higher ups kept wanting and threatening to do.

But something was strange… with him, with his exile. He still had access to some of his powers and every once in a while, when he stored up enough juice, he could slip out and back into the Netherworld or the mortal world. The strange thing was that when he managed to get out, no one could see him. Not the living and not the dead either. He was truly invisible.

It had been a lot of fun to start off with, he was able to get in and out of places that he'd never been able to. But there wasn't a lot that he could do other than that. It took a lot of effort for him to manipulate anything in either world leaving him exhausted to the point he'd close his eyes and when he'd open them again, he'd be back in his grave.

The one place he couldn't go, the one person that he couldn't get to was Lydia Deetz.

How rude of the powers that be not to let him check in on his darling wife. And his wife she was, regardless of whatever crock of rat shit that old withered bitch Juno had spun up and sold to them about dear old Bab's having stopped the ceremony in time… He could still feel that connection, that bond that had clicked into place between the two of them.

He had had all the time in the world to think back over all the events that had taken place during that time. He wished could have went back and kicked himself for his stupidity. There were so many other ways he would have been able to get what he wanted. But he had to let his impatience win out over rationality.

Now he was paying for it.

For now though, his mind was going over things that he had heard whispers of when he'd been stalking the offices.

Something or Someone was coming.

The Higher ups were restless and trying to stop something from happening. He just wasn't sure what it was.

Whatever it was… felt important. He could feel a tug in his chest, and he knew that somehow it would involve him.

He'd bide his time, he just needed to save his power just for a bit longer then he'd be out to search for more answers.

hr

Lydia had no idea how long she had been in the office, waiting. She still was in handcuffs, the two attendants still on either side of her making sure she stayed in the chair. Her mind was still trying to wrap around what had happened.

What would happen to her now. She could feel the tightness in her throat from the tears threatening to fall. But she refused to give anyone the knowledge that she was scared. That was a lesson she had been hard taught years before.

Hearing the door to the office open she shifted her gaze to the man walking in. He was average height and weight, nothing stood out about him till he caught her eyes. Never in her life had she had an instant reaction to someone like she did right then. Her stomach sank and she felt real fear. Something was so wrong here. His voice instantly set her on edge setting every instinct in her to run and hide.

She watched as he flipped open a file on his desk and then looked directly at her. She shifted slightly in her seat.

"Lydia _Enheduanna_ Deetz, January 11th, 1976… a month shy of your 18th birthday it seems."

Lydia's mouth was dry as she watched this… doctor in front of her. The way that he spoke her middle name had chills going up her spine.

"_Enheduanna_…. Such an interesting name. "he said. "Sumerian for High Priestess" his eyes glittered in a way that instantly held her paralyzed. "Now let's see here, our reports are indicating that you have repeated hallucinations of people that have died stating that you believe that you can speak to the dead, delusions of events that happened in the past, suicidal thoughts and actions, a history of school issues of you bullying your classmates threatening them in a manner that is disturbing and very graphic according to your records from school."

Every word that slipped from this man's lips had Lydia wishing that she could defend herself., but something stopped her, something in her was screaming to keep quiet. Not to give this man a syllable to use against her.

"It wasn't till your parents Charles and Delia Deetz said they witnessed you trying to smoother your 10 month old sister that they felt that you are a danger to yourself and others around you and instead of turning you over to the police wish for you to get the help you need. "he closed the file and looked at her again. "We will do our best to help you Lydia… to help you work through your issues and get to the root of your mental illness and start a treatment plan." His voice was oily making her skin crawl.

The doctor nodded at the two attendants and she felt the handcuffs finally undone. "We will get you settled in your new room and a nurse will be in to help you get settled. You will have strict routine starting the moment you are in your new accommodations. This is the best way to start treating you." He said his voice placating in a manner that had her wanting to lash out. But she kept quiet trying to process everything that he had said. Any hope that her father would come to his senses and get her out of there died when he had said that her parents, both parents had witnessed her doing something to her sister… her stomach rolled. She'd only ever seen the baby from a distance. Never once being close enough to even see what the baby looked like let alone do what they said she had done. The tears were burning the back of her throat and she desperately wanted to wake up from this nightmare.

She felt herself being lifted from the chair and led out the doors of the office and down a maze of dimly lit gray hallways till they came to a stand in front of a room with the numbers 333 on it. Something shifted in her mind at seeing the numbers, wanting to scream out that, that was important but before she could make that connection someone cleared their throat and she looked up. A nurse stood there her arms holding more gray clothing and Lydia realized that she wasn't going to get to wear her own clothes anymore.

The next half an hour was a blur for Lydia. She was stripped and dressed like a rag doll; every bit of her identity taken away as the nurse in a monotone bored voice started going over the rules for her. Breakfast, lunch and dinner, scheduled strictly. No one was allowed to skip meals; meds were to be given out before each meal and were taken while supervised. Once the doctor had her sessions scheduled, she would be taken to them. She would only be alone in her room. The door would always be locked from the outside until she was being led out for mealtimes or for her therapy sessions.

It wasn't till the loud echo of the door shutting and locking behind her that Lydia slowly started to come out of her numbness. She looked around her breath coming in short gasps. A metal framed bed that was bolted to the floor, one pillow and a sheet. Everything the same color gray. One room. A bed. A sink that was nothing more than a stainless-steel bowl attached to the wall… a mirror and a toilet. She looked down at herself. A baggy set of scrubs, gray shirt, no bra, a pair of elastic waistband pants. At least she could keep her own underwear on. She saw laying on the bed a pair of socks and there were a pair of plastic looking slide on shoes under the end of the bed. There wasn't a window.

She was in a cell.

Slowly Lydia walked her way over to the bed and moved up on it till she was sitting in the corner, her back pressed into the corner of the walls, the cold brick seeping through the thin material of her shirt. She pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them her head dropped down and the tears finally came.

Lydia never noticed the shadow move away from her door where the doctor had stood watching her.


	2. Chapter 2

It had been two weeks since she'd been brought to the hospital against her will, two weeks since she'd seen daylight, two weeks since she'd spoken a word.

Lydia stared blankly at the wall trying hard not to listen to what the doctor was saying, this was supposed to be her daily therapy session, but it was not like any therapy she'd been to before.  
The man still set off her need to run and hide. There was something about him that wasn't right. Her mouth was dry as she tried to read the spines of the bookshelf behind the doctor… anything to keep her mind off of what he was saying.

Today's sessions had started off with the; "I think that we need to adjust your medication again, you don't seem to be responding to it just yet."

Lydia didn't know how he could tell that she wasn't responding to them, everything seemed to be muted and she was numb. She wished that she could just think straight… everything was blurring together.

"Now that is out of the way I want to start today's session with talking about what happened to your mother."

Lydia bit back a sharp breath that threatened to escape as a gasp. She closed her eyes not wanting to think about it. She'd buried all of that away. It didn't stop the doctor from continuing to speak.

"From what your father has said it seems that you feel that you are responsible for what had happened."

She was trying hard not to think about it, but there was something in the man's voice that started to send her tumbling into her memories, her mind holding no resistance with the drugs coursing through her veins.

"You were seven years old. Your father had left for work and it was just you and your mother."  
Lydia tried to block out his voice, she pulled her hands up to her ears to block it out when she felt the two attendants that were always in the room pull her hands down and fasten them to the arms of the chair.

"Someone came to door of your house that you didn't know, you opened the door for him did you not?"

Lydia heard the question and frowned, that wasn't right. Her mother had committed suicide, had taken too many pills and overdosed. Supposedly after an argument with her father before he had left for work. She'd been home, but asleep… an unnatural force started pressing against her mind and she started to slip into her subconsciousness, back to the day her mother had died, memories long suppressed finally erasing the manipulated ones, now coming to the forefront of her mind for the first time in 10 years.

_Lydia was sitting on the floor of the sitting room playing with a doll and tea set when she heard someone knock on the door. Her mother was in the kitchen making them lunch, so she stood up slowly and walked toward the door. She was too short to look out the half crescent window at the top of the door, so she slowly turned the lock hearing the click of it unlocking. The knocking stopped abruptly, and she felt herself turning the knob of the door slowly till it released and the door creaked open._

_The first thing that Lydia saw was black shiny shoes, not a speck of dirt on them. She looked up seeing it was a very tall man with long black hair pulled back at the nape of his neck. She tipped her head to the side looking up at him. His face was sharp, tense as he looked down at her a wave of danger slammed into her and she felt an erupting bubble of fear blooming in her chest. Before she could do anything, the man swooped into her space and wrapped his hand around her mouth to keep her from screaming._  
_She could feel herself being picked up and the door kicked shut. He carried her toward the kitchen where her mother was. Her eyes were filled with tears as she fought to get out of this man's arms. He was too strong for her._

_Lydia watched helplessly as her mother turned around and saw this strange man holding her with his hand over her mouth and could see the anger and fear wash over her face._

_"Azrael, put her down, she's done nothing." Lydia heard her mother beg._

_The man laughed; Lydia had been able to feel the vibrations of his laughter through her whole body. The hair on the back of her neck rose up. It was an unnatural laugh._

_"You know what I am here for, and it's not this child. You betrayed Samael, married that mortal man, the proof is right here, I won't take her…" He whispered, his voice low and had something in it that made Lydia stop moving all together, her heart pounding out of her chest. "Not yet at least." He smirked and looked down at Lydia. "You are to remain quiet." He said and as he removed his hand from her mouth _

_Lydia tried to scream but nothing came out.  
He had stolen her voice!_

_"Azrael!" her mother had screamed at the man, she scrambled away from him the second that he dropped her to the floor. She tried to get to her mother, but something stopped her from crossing some invisible line that separated the two of them. All she could hear was her mother pleading with this man to not hurt her. Begging him and pleading with him that she hadn't done anything wrong._

_She watched helplessly, her voice taken from her as her mother was forced to her knees, the man's hand gripping her chin as she was forced to look up at him, his other hand moving to her forehead._

_Lydia screamed silently, the tears streaming down her face as she beat against an invisible barrier to try and get to her mother. It was mere seconds after the man had put his hand on her mother's head that she was blown backwards, some sort of wave of blackness that erupted from her mother as she screamed pushed through and broke the barrier._

_Huddling against the wall she watched helplessly as her mother slumped forward to the ground. Lydia knew that her mother was dead._

_Her eyes were instantly on the man walking toward her, he made no noise as he made his way over to her crouching down to her level. She wrapped her arms around her knees as she tried to curl herself into a smaller ball to get away from him. She felt him touch her head and the sound of her own voice echoed in her head as her voice came back._

_"Be glad that it was I that came and not another." He said his voice void of all emotions and disappeared in the blink of an eye leaving a blistering silence that threatened to overtake her. She looked over at her mother's body and screamed._

Lydia kept screaming as she was brought out of her mind by the feel of a prick of a needle in her arm. She could feel the burn and heat of the sedative that was pushed through the needle into her body, her head lulled back in the chair as it started to hit her, her screaming stopped. She could feel the tears still wet on her cheeks, her brain refusing to acknowledge what she had just remembered.

Lydia could hear the doctor walking toward her just as her eyes slipped closed. She could still hear him as he started to speak, she fought through the drugs addling her mind to hear what he was saying.

"Things are going to plan, return her to her room. Up the meds, it won't be long now I believe."

Darkness took her just as she felt the buckles on the straps around her wrists loosen and she was picked up to be carried back to her room.

Betelgeuse had been flicking pieces of paper across his room when he felt it. That sliver of a bond that connected him to Lydia sizzled to life sending a wave of pure terror anguish and pain through him.

Terror that wasn't his.  
Anguish and Pain that he hadn't caused.  
He sat up slowly closing his eyes he tried to follow the connection, but there was something there stopping it. Maybe he was just too far away, or she was blocking it.

Frustrated he stood up stomping as he paced back and forth in the small room, his own hell. He muttered under his breath. "What the fuck is the point of all this, what is going on that I can't get to her." He was angry and still had no answers to anything that had happened. He stopped pacing and an idea was slowly starting to form.

He wasn't finding anything out by stalking the Netherworld… maybe he needed to make a trip topside. All the way to the top that is… not the mortal world.

See what the shmucks were doing on the light side, he wasn't getting any answers from the Netherworld.

He just hoped that his new invisibility trick continued to hold out and he wasn't caught.

Closing his eyes Betelgeuse drew in all the power that he had been conserving, concentrating where he wanted to go and snapped his fingers. He felt like he was getting sucked through a vacuum and was spat out suddenly in a cold sterile hallway. Looking to his left and then his right he could see that the hallway extended either way with no end in sight either way. He tried to think of about what he knew of this place. It had been hundreds of years since he'd had to think of the way that they had their offices.

Levels… planets… doorways to each. "Fucking lily-white pansy bastards thinking they have to be organized." He muttered to himself. He could see a door to his right and started for it to see what the placard said.

_1- Moon_

Betelgeuse shook his head rubbing the back of his neck. He needed to find where the 'office workers' were… something about stars. He groaned and started walking the other way. He didn't need to go to the different levels where the assholes were at. That would be a one-way ticket to the lost souls room for sure.

He saw that there was another door coming up and hoped that this would be it.

_Fixed Stars- Office of the 7_

"Bingo… let's see what's going on now that has everyone up in arms." He whispered to himself and slowly pushed himself through the door thankful that he still was incorporeal. He was taken back by the chaos that was going on around him.

Not so organized after all.

He could hear bits and pieces of questions being thrown around. The same thing coming back to his ear repeatedly as he walked along the outer wall taking it all in.

"They sent Daniel."

"Daniel is taking care of it"

"Daniel says he has it under control"

Betelgeuse frowned and knew that the only Daniel they could be talking about was one of the archangels in charge of all the creepy bastard watchers.

This was getting more and more interesting, why oh why had Daniel been sent and where had he been sent. Last he knew he was a lackey of that bastard Samael.

Good for nothing archangels.

He wandered toward the stack of folders sitting on the floor next to an overflowing desk where the worker was sitting desperately going through a folder in front of them.  
That was till something caught his eye and he stopped cold in his tracks.

One of the folders next to the workers hand had a label that read

_Winter River_

Now that could not be a coincidence.

He tried to get closer to see what was in the folder, it was shut just as he got a glimpse of something that made his nonexistent heart stop.

**Lydia Deetz(?) Patient 1901 Rm 333…**

Top of Form


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Betelgeuse left as quickly as he could, waiting till he managed to get out into the hallway before he snapped his fingers again.

He found himself instantly back in room his hands in his hair as he paced back and forth furiously. "What the fuck have you gotten yourself into babes." He whispered and could feel that stupid bond of theirs. It was there like a god damn puppet string, but still not strong enough to pull him where he needed to be.

"What am I missing." He growled out frustrated and slammed his hand down on the wooden desk, his fingers digging into the wood as he closed his eyes trying to force himself down the bond line to find Lydia.

It was a black line, coated in silver.

He wanted to reach out and touch it but he knew instinctively not to. He just had to follow it. He looked up to see where it was leading and couldn't see through the inky darkness.

It was a darkness that had a feeling of foreboding that radiated from it. Something he'd never felt before.

He studied it for a few moments and realized that someone was manipulating it… dulling it. The silver was the true color trying to shine through the black as it tried to smother it.

It was in that instance that Betelgeuse knew that he didn't have a lot of time. He was afraid of what would happen if the entire bond went black.

Opening his eyes slowly as he pulled out of his mind, he looked around his room and focused on what he needed to do.

He needed to find Lydia, get her away from whatever the hell was keeping her.

But first, he needed someone in their corner that would help. Someone that wouldn't have any issues going against the Arches. He had a horrible feeling that this was all their doing… and he knew that when he found out what they had planned for his Lyds… it wasn't going to end well for anyone involved. So for now, he was going to have to get help and for that he was going to need something of value, favors weren't cheap for the when it came to getting help from the Guides, fickle that they were.

He walked toward the corner of his small room and kicked open a trunk. Three weapons laid there that he had liberated one way or another over the last six hundred years. He thought about the two Guides he was about to barter with and picked up the hammer. He could feel the power in the enchantment in it and smiled slowly. "Oh yeah, that'll do it."

He drew in a breath and disappeared.

hr

Lydia jerked awake, a scream on the tip of her tongue as she fought to shake away the nightmare that had left her in a pool of sweat. She tried to take in a slow breath, her body trembling as she fought the tears that were threatening to fall again.

She'd been in her room now for the last five hours and all she'd done was break down and try and rationalize what had happened. Nothing made sense anymore. Was she really remembering that her mother had been killed but some supernatural force or was this another trick to make her think that she was going crazy?

Lydia let out a whimpering moan as she tried to roll back toward the wall giving herself some sort of semblance of safety. Since her episode during her therapy session her head was clearer than it had been since they had started to drug her up.

She ran her fingers over the edge of her thumbnails to keep her mind focused on the here and now. She went over every session she'd had with her doctor, every time a pill was pushed in her direction. She kept her breathing slow and steady to keep calm sorting her thoughts and memories. Letting herself get out of control only resulted her in her being sedated… and that was the absolute last thing that she needed.

It had started off simple, the doctor talking to her about what he thought her underlying issues were, why her coping mechanisms were spinning out of control, and finally the last session.

She swallowed hard. Now that she could remember that day, the smaller details that she had forgotten were starting to filter through. The strange man's name… Azrael… she knew that name to be an archangel. Something that her mother had her learn all those years ago when it was just the two of them. She had taught her many things that Lydia had been told were just between the two of them, never to be spoken about to anyone even her father.

But now… she knew that the man that she had grown up thinking was her father wasn't her father at all.

What had Azrael said to her mother? That she was the proof that she had betrayed someone… Sam… something. Her mind still coated in fuzziness.

Who was her father? Had her mother known?

She bit back the tears that were burning her eyes as she thought about it. Why had her doctor wanted her to remember that? The more pressing question was, how did he know what had happened. No one outside of the three people in the house had known what had occurred. She couldn't let on that she had remembered. She would continue the ruse that her mother had committed suicide, that she blamed herself for falling asleep and not being there for her.

She could feel a wash of determined stubbornness. She refused to let them beat her down.

Lydia did something she hadn't done in almost ten years. She closed her eyes and slowly concentrated on her breaths, slowly breathing in and out counting as she started the long process of meditating. She remembered her mother telling her that this was the only way that she could feel the truth of who she was. At the time she had laughed and thought it was silly… now… now she wasn't so sure.

It took a long time before Lydia could feel herself gently slipping into her subconscious.

She found herself standing in the darkness, in front of her a mirror covered with a sheet.

This was important. She could feel it. But what was it?

She heard a breath of a whisper… "_Three times_." It was so soft she was afraid she had imagined it.

Slowly she walked around it her fingertips grazing over the dusty white sheet. Stopping back in front of the mirror she reached for the sheet and in one swift yank, pulled it down uncovering the gothic embellished ornate mirror.

When she peered into the it, there was no reflection… only shadows. Narrowing her eyes, she stepped closer to it reaching out to touch it. It shocked her, It was ice cold; she jerked her hand back rubbing her fingertips in her other hand to get rid of the coldness that seemed to seep into her skin.

It was then that she felt it, she wasn't alone in her own mind. She closed her eyes her breaths coming in slow sharp gasps as the darkness of the room seemed to start to creep in closer around her. The danger was starting to overwhelm her... it was the same feeling she had when she was with her doctor.

Panic and terror filled Lydia and she knew she had to get out of there, or she would be stuck there.

She turned away from the mirror staring into the darkness and dug her fingernails into the palms of her hands hard enough to break skin, the pain ripping her out of her meditative state just as the door to her room slammed open.

Lydia scrambled into the corner of her bed not realizing that she was bleeding, smearing blood over the sheets and the wall.

The orderlies rushed in pulling her out of the bed and onto a stretcher where she was immediately strapped down. Orders being yelled to stop the bleeding and get her sedated.

Lydia shook her head screaming out loud for the first time in weeks, her voice rough and hoarse. "NOOOO!" she fought hard to get up, get away from them. The straps held her down rubbing her arms raw as she panicked and started to hyperventilate. She couldn't breathe. Everything was spinning around her, too many hands on her… pushing and pulling her in every direction till she snapped. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head and she passed out, succumbing to the blissful arms of darkness.

hr

Daniel stood there in the doorway watching as the orderlies and nurses fought to control a tiny slip of a girl that was strapped to a stretcher. He was impressed by her strength. He tipped his head to the side watching as her blood dripped from her hands onto the floor and drew in a deep breath. His eyes narrowed as he stepped in closer.

She didn't smell right.

She smelled human enough… but there was something more there. A power simmering just under the surface. But something was keeping him from pinpointing what it was.

That… was too bad.

He had his orders.

The girl was to die by her own hand before her 18th birthday.

He had less than two weeks to get her pushed to the edge and watch her fall.

hr

The second that Betelgeuse appeared in the Netherworld he could see that things had changed since he'd been there last… at least in this part of the Netherworld. He walked slowly toward an outcropping of black rock and willed everything in him to be seen. He hadn't done this yet and he hoped that it worked. If not… he'd be fucked, and it would be back to square one.

Something he didn't have time for… and time he knew deep down that Lydia didn't have either.

He stopped suddenly when he felt something heavy resting on her shoulder.

"Halt! Who dares come into this land with out passing through the great gates!" a deep rumbling voice shook through him.

He turned slowly making sure to keep the hammer on his shoulder where it was at and not swinging at his head.

"Charun! Old Buddy… pal!" he said as a wash of relief hit him realizing that the demon could see him. "It's been ages!"

Charun narrowed his eyes at the trespasser. "State your name trespasser and I may allow you to keep your head attached to your shoulders."

Betelgeuse wiggled his eyebrows at the demon. "Has it been so long you don't remember your best pal Betel?" he feigned a pout just as a female voice broke through the darkness.

"How are you here, the last anyone had heard you were stripped of your powers and sent to exile."

Betelgeuse looked over Charun's shoulder seeing the figure of a woman wearing a pleated skirt and hunting boots… from a millennia ago. A ring of keys fastened to her belt. Vanth, winged demoness of the dead.

"Looking good as always Vanny… and the rumors of my… exile are greatly exaggerated." He slipped out from under the hammer and rocked back on his heels looking at the demons in front of him. Two of the most important Guides in the underworld. Probably the only two that wouldn't out him to the higher ups. There was no lost love with them.

Vanth arched her eyebrows at Betelgeuse and crossed her arms over her chest knowing that this wasn't just a friendly visit. "Spit it out, you need something. What do you have to barter with?"

Betelgeuse let his smile slip into a smirk and he snapped, the mace he had picked up from his trunk. "I have here the one and only Mace of Sharur." He said holding it out knowing that Vanth could feel the power from it.

Vanth's eyes widened in shock. "I don't even want to know how you got that." She muttered and reached out taking the weapon into her hand. She could feel the power, the sentience the mace had. It was more than she had ever expected Betelgeuse to produce. Slowly she looked back up at him. "This… this is a lot and makes me think that this isn't some little request."

Betelgeuse swallowed and nodded. "It's not… I need help, I'm going against the Arches… they have information about someone, someone I am bonded to." He said as he shoved his hands into his pockets. "What the higher ups did to me… they blocked the bond; I can't get to her." He shook his head. "She's in danger and I can't find her." He said letting the worry slip out into his voice.

Vanth handed the mace to Charun. "Follow me." She said and headed back toward her office. She stepped in and held the door open for Betelgeuse to come in. Going over to her desk she sat down and reached for her book of names. "Alright, what's the name of this demon… let's see what I have on them and what we can do." She said looking up at Betelgeuse.

Betelgeuse shifted in his seat looking at Vanth with a guilty look on his face. "See… that's the thing there Vanny…" He said and swallowed uncomfortably.

"She's human… and not… dead."

Vanth dropped the book on the desk in shock. "Oh Betel…. You better be fucking kidding me." She stood up and went to her bookshelf pulling down books looking for a certain one dropping all the ones that wasn't the one she was looking for.

Betelgeuse rubbed the back of his neck. "Nope. Name's Lydia Deetz."

Vanth stopped when she finally found the book she was looking for. She dropped it on the top of her desk and looked over at Betelgeuse. "You said you have a bond with her, and that its blocked?" she tapped the top of the book and looked at him. "How in Hade's name do you have a bond with a living woman!?"

Betelgeuse let out a forced chuckled. "See… that's the funny thing, right? I… I mean her and I… we started to get married, said the whole I do's and all that in front of a minister. And we were interrupted, I got eaten by a fucking sandworm and that was the last time I saw her…" he had stood up and started to pace.

"Got punished by the higher ups for that, you know, forbidden to see her, they put a ban on her home and whammied me back into my lovely accommodations." He sighed running his hands through his hair making it stand up even worse than normal, showing just how much this was affecting him.

"But the funny thing is…my powers, they're changing… my juice is different. Have to conserve it so I can get myself places. I can make myself unseen to the dead and living and even the lily-whites!" he stopped and looked down at Vanth who had leaned back in her chair, her hands folded over her chest as she listened in rapt attention.

"I can still feel the bond, it's there and it's pulling me to do something. She's in danger and it has something to do with the Arches… they fucking sent Daniel down to 'take care of it' whatever the fucking shit that means." He said through clenched teeth.

Vanth frowned that wasn't good. "Is there any way that you can find her in the mortal world… you know I can't leave here, or I'd look for you." She said softly the apology clear in her voice.

Betelgeuse thought back to the folder he'd seen… his eyes narrowed. "Yeah, got some ideas." He said knowing that she had to be in some sort of hospital. Winter River wasn't that big.

Vanth nodded and sighed. "Do that and come back and tell me what you've found out. I'll see what I can find out from my contacts…. But if the Arches are involved, this is something that you might not be able to stop Betel… this might be her fate." She said delicately.

Betelgeuse growled as he stalked toward the door. He looked back over his shoulder looking at Vanth, the coldness and determination in his face was enough to stop anything else she was going to say.

"You and I both know that fate is shit, if they hurt her Vanny… no force this side of the Netherworld to the fucking Empyrean will stop me from killing them all… that's my promise." He said and with a snap of his fingers disappeared.

Vanth sighed and rubbed her fingers over the book on her desk.

_Lines and linages of the lost ones_

"I hope it doesn't come to that B…" she whispered.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Lydia wasn't sure where she was when she came to, her body and mind still sluggish from the overuse of the sedatives they kept pushing into her. She tried to rub her eyes but couldn't lift her arm, if she had been in a better state of mind that would have sent her in a panic attack. Instead she just let out a breath, all strength leaving her.

She was so tired of all of this. She just wanted it to end. How long could she keep doing this.

Turning her head to each side she could finally see why she couldn't lift her hands. They were still strapped down. Thick white gauze and tape wrapped around each of her hands making it look like she had mittens on.

She frowned slowly, her thoughts and physical reactions felt so sluggish.

Had she done that to herself? She had remembered digging her fingernails into her hands, but it couldn't have been that bad… right?

Lydia heard the door open and she wished she had kept her eyes closed when she saw that it was her doctor walking in with his two usual orderlies. She could feel her heart beating faster in her chest, the need to get away from him sending her almost into a panic attack even in her drugged-out state of mind.

Daniel looked down at the girl and moved to sit down next to the bed in the chair that had been brought over.

"I'm sure that you are feeling rather confused as to what happened." He said his eyes locking with hers as he slowly started to push suggestions through to her mind. Suggestions of what had happened, what she wanted to do.

Lydia felt as if something thick and oily was trying to swallow her up as she looked in her doctor's eyes. She couldn't look away, she could see glimpses of her fighting an orderly, a flash of something silver. Blood pouring from her hands.

The singular thought looping through her mind that she was worthless, she wasn't worth saving, she'd be better off dead.

She could feel it starting to consume her, wrap around her in a thick black coat. She closed her eyes ready to just give in, so tired of fighting it constantly when something happened, a wash of warmth surged through her sending the wave of darkness that was consuming her away in a flash of silver light.

She was afraid to open her eyes, afraid of what she would see in her doctor's face… had he been able to tell that something was wrong with her? What had he been doing to her?

She could hear shuffling beside her and the doctor speaking lowly to his orderlies. "It won't be long now… take her back to her room, make sure you leave the letter opener on the sink. I've already alerted security that it had been taken earlier in the week."

Lydia feigned sleep as she felt the bed starting to move and she was taken back to her room. Did they just give her something to kill herself with? The thought of how set up this was had her terrified.

hr

Daniel watched as the girl was taken out of the medical room and back to her own room. He walked to the window and pulled out his phone. With out dialing or hitting a single button he spoke into it, knowing that his message would be sent through to the correct department for the higher ups.

"It should be finished by the end of the night. She was exceedingly easy to manipulate mentally."

hr

It wasn't till Lydia was sure that she was alone that she stopped pretending that she was asleep. Slipping out of her bed she moved carefully over to the sink seeing that there was a sharp letter opener laying behind the faucet.

Her stomach flipped horribly as her heart sank.

She remembered the feelings and thoughts that had invaded her mind earlier when she had been in the room with her doctor.

This wasn't right, she wasn't going to kill herself!

She was stronger than this. Stronger than whoever these people thought they were.

She moved over to her door and carefully looked out. She could see that the hallway lights were dim, and she knew that it had to be passed dinner time. She had time to get her mind straightened back out before morning. Before she had to deal with whatever was going on.

There was still bit of grogginess she was feeling from the sedatives as she slid down in front of her door, her back pressed against the cold metal. She'd be able to feel the vibrations of anyone walking down the hallway toward her giving her time to get back into her bed.

Looking down at her hands she shook her head. She knew that she hadn't done what her mind had been telling her she had done to herself.

She closed her eyes breathing evenly as she centered herself.

She remembered that she'd been mediating, and in a flash she had felt something invading her mind. She had known then the only way to pull herself out of there and prevent whatever it was from knowing what she could do, was for her to incite a rush of adrenaline and endorphins through her body to snap her out of it.

She'd sank her fingernails into her palms.

It had worked. Maybe too well she mused as she looked down at her bandaged hands. She'd laugh at the absurdity of it all if she had the strength to.

She could still feel that oiliness in her head… like black tar trying to seep in and cover everything. She'd only ever felt like that one other time…

Lydia's eyes widened as a wash of terror slammed into her.

The only other time she'd felt that same kind of taint influence her was when Azrael had taken her voice and when he had touched her mother's forehead before she'd died.

It was only then that she really started to think about what she had remembered, about the memories that had been hidden from her.

Archangels? Was she really losing her mind enough to think that there was so much more to the realm of the supernatural than just ghosts?

If there were archangels… then what else was out there.

Ghosts, she knew. Her throat tightened at the thought of the Maitland's.

No! She refused to think about them, they had abandoned her when she needed them the most.

And now Archangels, did that mean that there were demons as well… the second that that thought floated through her mind she felt a stab of pain engulf her whole head, radiating down and through her chest.

A rouge thought filtering into her mind. "There are no such things as demons, they are made up stories to scare little children"

She gritted her teeth as she pushed past the pain lancing through her as she forced herself to think about what a Demon was. Flashes of black… and white stripes slammed into her, the tight band around her head and chest seemed to loosen slightly.

Lydia fought to keep ahold of that image. She knew it had to be important! What was it, what did it mean!

She felt like she was on a merry go round, her mind spinning as she tried to hold onto a single picture in her head. A voice floating soft through the air, whispering softly.

"Three times."

And then it was gone.

Lydia was panting as she leaned back against the cold metal door trying to get a grip on herself. What did it mean… three times? This was the second time she'd heard something telling her the same two words!

She was running out of time and she knew that whatever that meant… would be what saved her.

hr

Betelgeuse was running low on energy when he managed to get back to his place. He collapsed on his bed and closed his eyes. He'd left the Netherworld and went straight to the mortal world to Winter River's hospital.

He'd thought that maybe Lydia had been in some sort of accident, maybe was in a coma or something. That would explain the bond and how he couldn't reach her through it.

So, he'd spent the better part of the day going through the files in the file room at the hospital not finding anything about Lydia… but he had found something of interest. Her bitch of a stepmother had spawned another breather. He almost felt bad for the kid.

He'd left empty handed but determined to figure out what was going on. His mind was spinning as he tried to think of other places that had 'patients'.

Frowning he got up and started to pace.

His hand rubbing the back of his neck as he tried to think.

Dentist? No… they didn't have rooms.

It had to be some sort of doctor, right? He didn't know this shit. He had no use for it!

And then he felt it, something tugging relentlessly at the bond he had with Lydia.

Something was trying to severe it completely.

Desperation surged through him as he yelled out "NO!" his hands bracing on the wall in front of him as he delved deeply into his mind, panicking as he tried to find the bond.

It was there… barely, nearly completely covered in a thick blackness.

He did the one thing that he knew that he shouldn't do… but he had to save her, save whatever it was that kept them together. He reached out and pushed all his energy that he could through the bond to fight off whatever was attacking it. He could feel the blackness slinking away and then in an explosion of light, silver filled his mind, throwing him physically to the ground in his room.

Betelgeuse groaned loudly, his head pounding with an intensity he'd not felt in hundreds of years! He tried to push the pain away. "Fucking rat shit." He moaned as he rolled over on the floor and slowly crawled over to his bed collapsing on the dusty broken mattress.

"What are they doing to you Lyds, why can't I get to you?"

He closed his eyes letting himself drift through his thoughts, trying to figure this puzzle out when it hit him.

His eyes narrowed as he gritted his teeth through the still lingering pain.

He raised his hand and snapped his fingers summoning a telephone book for Winter River.

Levitating it in the air he flipped through the white pages looking for a specific type of hospital, if he was thinking on the right line he'd find it.

And there it was… the words on the page glowed as he sat up his furry starting to build.

_**Winter River Psychiatric Hospital, 546 Winding Tree Road, Winter River, Connecticut**_.

Betelgeuse growled as he lit the phone book on fire watching as the ash dropped to the ground. There would be hell to pay if this was all part of Juno and the Higher up's plans to keep him under control. It was one thing to fuck with him… but to do this to someone that didn't deserve it. Oh there would be hell to pay.

He was just about to say to hell with it all and pop himself to the hospital when an envelope snapped into existence, floating down into his hand.

He opened it up and frowned as he started to read.

_**B,**_

_**I've found out some things since you left, you aren't going to like it. **_

_**You were right to think that the Arches are involved, it goes all the way to the top to Samael. **_

_**Come see me as soon as you can, there is more to tell you, but I don't dare put it to paper.**_

_**-V**_

Betelgeuse shook his head. Fucking Samael. Of course, it would be that unmitigated bastard. He had heard so many rumors about Mr. I have too many names. Archangel of Death, the seducer, the destroyer.

He had no patience for the way that side worked.

Drawing in a slow breath Betelgeuse groaned as he tried to pull what energy he had to get back to the Netherworld to find out what Vanth had discovered.

With a tired shaky snap, Betelgeuse was gone once again.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Betelgeuse found himself back outside of Vanth's door in the underworld, the exhaustion hitting him hard. He wasn't doing himself any favors stretching his energy this thin. He knew that it was because he had pushed all it to Lydia earlier.

He just hoped that he had stopped whatever had been affecting their bond. He didn't even want to think about what it had done to her. He started to wonder what she had felt on her end, but his thoughts were brought to an abrupt halt as he walked through the door and froze.

The utter chaos that surrounded him was impressive.

"Well shit Vanth, if you just needed me for cleaning house, I would have changed clothes." He said trying to not let show how drained he was.

He ducked quickly, narrowly avoiding a book sailing through the air toward a very harried looking Vanth.

"Oh, you have no idea what you've managed to wrap yourself up in." Vanth muttered and tossed the book to the floor after skimming quickly through it.

"But its you, so I'm not surprised really." She sighed and looked over at him briefly.

"Only you B would manage this." She shook her head turning back toward the bookshelf and pulling out another book.

Betelgeuse arched his eyebrows at the demoness and walked toward her dodging books and then leaned against the bookshelf. Crossing his arms over his chest he tried to pull off an air of nonchalance, "You going to tell me what it is that I've done that is causing you so much…" He trailed off waving his hand at the chaos around them.

Vanth slammed the book shut her eyes narrowing as she rounded on Betelgeuse. "You…" her voice dark and holding a growl to it that bellied how much this was getting to her, she poked her finger into his chest. "…Have managed to find the last of the Astarte line… and bonded yourself to her! Do you have any idea what you have done to yourself! What you have done to her!"

Betelgeuse nearly sank to the floor. "The Astarte line is a myth Vanth, don't fuck with me, my Lyds is no necromancer." He snarled, there was no way that Lydia was the from her line.

He would have known! He would have been able to feel that power in her… and he hadn't.

Had he?

Vanth rounded on Betelgeuse again and slammed a book into his chest.

"Oh you know damn well that it's as real as you and I are, Its just by luck that I found her name in the book of lost ones, her birthright came down from her mother's side, always makes it harder to track lineage. Probably why Astarte did it that way." she shook her head frustrated and worried for her friend.

"Now that the Arch's know who she is… they want to make sure that she dies by her own hand before she turns 18 and her powers are unlocked."

Betelgeuse grimaced, he knew that if she were the one to be responsible for her own death then she would be bound by the underworlds rules and would be stuck with out her freedom for eternity.

"That's why they sent Daniel… that fucking shit for brains is their best mental manipulator." He could feel a coil of panic starting to set in the center of his chest. He looked down at the book that Vanth had shoved into his chest and could see the dark silver lettering mocking him.

_Astarte_

_Born of the Fallen and Mortal _

_Queen of the Spirits of the Dead_

"What's this book going to do." He doubted it would give him the answers that were racing through his mind.

Vanth snorted. "Its not for you, you fucking moron. Think of it as a birthday present to your little Necromancer bondmate. It will be easier for you to explain it to her with something more tangible." She smirked.

"Be sure to bring her to meet me once you've found her."

Betelgeuse put the book inside his jacket sliding it into one of the inner pockets. He knew what Vanth was saying between the lines. Until Lydia turned 18, there wasn't going to be a safe place anywhere except maybe here in Vanth's sanctum.

"I'll be back as soon as I can." He said and with one last glance around the destroyed office he snapped his fingers and juiced himself back home.

Exhausted he dropped down on his bed and closed his eyes. "Just a few hours Lyds… just hold on for a few more hours and I'll get you out." He had to get his energy back up before he slipped into Daniel's territory. He would have to pull out all the stops to keep himself from being found out. He'd do Lydia no good being banished.

With those thoughts he slipped into a restless regenerative sleep.

hr

Daniel stood in his office looking out the window over the grounds seeing the reflection of the full moon on the small pond, waiting for his contact to show up. He glanced at the monitors that had been set up. The Deetz girl hadn't moved from sitting in the corner of her room for the last three hours. She had the letter opener in her hand though.

She just needed to finish it. He knew that his suggestions were strong enough to push her over the edge. He knew that the hesitation now was most likely the residual grogginess from all the sedatives they'd been pushing into her.

He felt a whisper of a draft and knew that he had company. 

"It has taken you long enough to get here." He said not turning around.

"Is it finished?"

Daniel turned around to face the newcomer, he'd been expecting Azrael. "I wasn't expecting you Gabriel." He tilted his head to the side. "Has something happened?"

Gabriel walked toward the other Archangel. "There has been a bit of an issue that has been brought to our attention. You need to be aware that the Demon hasn't been found as of yet. He's not been in his usual places. His supposed exile has been too quiet. He's been able to get out of them before." He sneered. "but yet, he still remains hidden away. One would think that he truly lost his powers. But we know that he hasn't."

Daniel tipped his head to the side and nodded. "There is a bond between them, I've severed it as much as I could during our sessions, I have no doubt that he will try and find her. That would explain her non-human blood." He thought out loud.

Gabriel's face remained impassive. "She's getting closer to her awakening… it's to be expected."

Daniel nodded his head in acquiescence.

"Azrael will be here to dispose of the body, send word as soon as it happens. It _can not_ fall into the wrong hands." Gabriel said severely.

Daniel bowed slightly. "It will be done." He said just as Gabriel disappeared.

hr

Lydia was fighting the sleep that was threatening to overtake her, relying on the coldness of the floor and wall seeping into her skin through the thin hospital garb. Her hand still grasped the letter opener afraid that if she put it down, it would be used against her in some way.

There hadn't been anyone coming to check on her for the night check. She wondered if this was intentional, she was afraid of what would happen come morning and they found her still alive.

Swallowing past the rising bile that threatened to come out she let herself zone out, retreating into memories. Her mother came to the forefront of her mind now so much easier, as if learning the truth of how she had died had released a block against them. She thought back to all the silly things that her mother used to tell her… although now. They weren't all that silly. She remembered her mother telling her that she had a destiny that would move the heavens and the earth.

She didn't want that destiny, she only wanted to get out of there and run. She'd go back to New York City, it would be easy to get lost there. Change everything about her… become someone new.

She had a sinking feeling though that she would be found no matter where she was at, what she looked like.

The tears had long since stopped falling as she felt the wash of desperation hit her. It reminded her of how she had felt when the doctor had tried to get her to think about killing herself. She was not stupid, as much as she wished that mind tricks and brainwashing wasn't real… the fact that she could remember now that her mother had been killed by an archangel, and that it was obvious now that her doctor was one as well… she couldn't trust any of her thoughts as her own.

The only thing that she was going to concentrate on, was surviving.

The one thing that they didn't want her to do.

There was just one thing that kept nagging at her, in the back of her mind. The black and white stripes… the meaning of three times.

She knew, that she had more memories that had been blocked… taken from her. There was a whole two month period of her younger teenage years that she had no recollection of.

She let herself fall into her memories, pushing through the cobwebs and haze. She could feel her lips moving, whispering something.

Raising her hand gently to her mouth she felt them moving, making the same sound over and over again.

Pushing herself harder to concentrate she could almost hear what she was saying. I was like trying to dial into an old radio station, just catching snip bits of a sound.

"Bee… Bee… Bee… "

Was it a word…. A sound… a letter… the questions continued to overwhelm her and she was no close to remembering.

hr

Vanth slumped down into her chair looking around at the mess of her office. She would have to prepare a room for when Betelgeuse brought the girl. She knew that she would be in bad shape mentally as well as physically.

They would have little time to help her prepare for what was to come.

"You seem to have rearranged since the last time I was here." A male voice slid through the darkness.

Vanth looked up sharply holding her breath as she watched for voice to make itself know. She narrowed her eyes.

She knew that voice.

"Semayza"

A tall figure stepped out of the shadows and moved to sit across from her, a wave of his hand and her office was back to the way it had been before she'd been tearing through it looking for information.

Vanth watched the way that he moved… the way that he spoke, it reminded her of someone. "What brings you to my side of the underworld… don't you have your rebellion of Fallen to lead, unsuspecting mortal women to seduce?"

"I do… but felt that it was necessary to find out what you had discovered." He asked picking up the book from her desk and flipping through it.

Vanth swallowed hard knowing that this could go two different ways. Betelgeuse would either be happy to have someone as powerful as the leader of the Fallen or be pissed off beyond that he had another faction against him and his bondmate.

"I guess it depends on the reason you ask for the information." She said steeling herself for the wrath that would be brought down on her if this was to go badly.

Semyaza chuckled darkly. "Be at ease Vanth, I hold no ill will for the child of Astarte, after all. It wouldn't do to be trying to kill my son's bondmate." He said and sat back.

"Does he know?" Vanth snapped out, suddenly overwhelmed with anger toward the Fallen Angel across from her.

"Does he know that his father is a Fallen!?" she stood up and started to pace. The ramifications of everything started to pile up. There were too many things that were starting to fall into place… her eyes narrowed not liking where it was going.

Semyaza shook his head. "No, he doesn't. He was never to know… but things are happening that are changing the way the rules are… he will know in time, just not as of yet. And you are not to tell him till he gets his bondmate here to safety. I will make sure that they are not able to be found once they are here in your realm." He stood up. "I will tell him once things are settled Vanth, I can't risk him losing focus on what he has to do."

He waved his hand and a stack of books appeared on her desk. "These will help her harness her powers after her awakening." He said softly knowing it was a poor gesture for what he was asking her to do.

"I will return when they arrive." He said and then with a wave of his hand he sank back into the darkness of the shadows and disappeared.

Vanth rubbed her hand over her face suddenly overwhelmed but everything. Things were changing… and fast.

She had a room to prepare.


	6. Chapter 6

Lydia knew that her time was up. She rocked back and forth her hand trembling as it gripped the letter opener. There was no one coming to help her, no one wanted her.

Everything seemed to be caving in around her. She couldn't focus. Her mind was a murky haze.

She'd made a mistake.

She'd fallen asleep only to be woken up abruptly with horrific thoughts circling in her head.

_Do it._

_No one will miss you._

_You aren't worthy._

_It will stop all the pain._

_You can never be what everyone wants you to be. _

If she hadn't been so consumed by the despair that was devouring her, she would have noticed her doctor standing just outside her door.

hr

It took a few moments for Betelgeuse to completely become aware of himself and where he was at, he was in his home, in his bed and had finally managed to get enough rest that he wasn't feeling as if he was drained of all his energy.

There was a constant itch in the back of his mind however, the bond between him and Lydia was tugging tightly urging him to get moving.

He focused all his thoughts to what he needed to do.

He was going into the lion's den and taking back his Lydia.

Betelgeuse stood slowly his hands waving down over his clothes replacing them with his signature black and white stripes. He cracked his fingers and slowly rolled his shoulders releasing the tension that had been building.

With a snap of his fingers, he disappeared.

hr

Azrael stepped up next to Daniel looking through the window of the door to the young woman in the last throws of desperation.

"She looks remarkably like her mother."

Daniel looked at the other Archangel. "Not nearly as resilient though, Emily had been able to ensnare Samael after all."

Azrael tipped his head to the side and watched for a brief moment before he turned and began walking toward Daniel's office. "I'd rather not feel the backlash of her energy as her soul is ripped from her body." He said simply.

Daniel nodded in agreement. "We will be able to see from the monitors when its over."

hr

Betelgeuse appeared in the shadows beside a large oak tree, the darkness of night on his side. He closed his eyes focusing himself on becoming invisible. Slowly he walked toward the building hating how it radiated sorrow, despair, and sadness.

His Lydia was in there.

It tore at something deep with in him, something he had thought he had lost years before.

Gritting his teeth and tempering his anger he slipped silently and unnoticed into the building. He could feel the taint of the Archangels almost instantly, their filth making it nearly unbearable to tolerate. Thick and oily, it permeated everything around them.

He would never understand how they were the ones that had gotten the good rep. They were the ones that were offing the humans just to entertain themselves.

He carefully moved through the hallways, keeping to the shadows, away from where the video cameras would spot him, had he been visible. He wasn't stupid enough to think that there wasn't anything there to keep him from getting to Lydia.

But he would damn well do whatever it took to get her out.

Even if he had to slaughter every fucking archangel in the building and paint the walls with their blood to do it.

The simmering rage was just there under his skin, aching to be released. His powers wanting to stretch and grow.

He started to pass a door and stopped feeling something wash across his skin. He glanced in the door and saw someone he absolutely did not want to see.

Azrael was standing there with Daniel.

Had it just been Daniel, he'd have had no issue dealing with the bastard, but now he would have to deal with Azrael as well.

The sense of urgency to get to Lydia slammed into him. He refused to believe that he was too late. He could see that they both were staring at something, some sort of video screen.

A monitor.

Those bastards were watching Lydia, as if she was some sort of entertainment.

He didn't have time to run through the maze of hallways trying to find her, he had to find her now. Sinking into the shadows he closed his eyes and reached out for his bond to Lydia. "Come on babes, show me where you are." He whispered to himself.

Betelgeuse opened his eyes feeling the urgency to get to Lydia amp up from the way their bond felt. He let it lead him through the hallways to where she was at.

hr

Azrael smiled slowly turning his head toward the door. "He's here."

The two of them faded out of the room and reappeared in front of the girl's door waiting for the Demon to show himself.

hr

Betelgeuse knew that he had found her. But it was also a trap.

Azrael and Daniel stood there outside her door keeping him from getting to her.

He stood there in the shadows waiting to see what their move would be. He figured the sensations he'd felt earlier had been their little early warning system for him.

Why not give them what they were wanting?

Snapping his fingers, he let a low drawling whisper slip out as he stepped out of the shadows into the Archangel's line of sight.

"It's Showtime."

He lunged and threw two balls of pure energy at them making them both leap out of the way, Daniel disappearing completely.

Chickenshit.

He felt his fingers close around the door handle of Lydia's room and yanked it open just as he was pulled back and slammed into the ground, a flaming sword pressing against his neck.

The heat of the holy fire licking at his skin.

"Gotta do better than that Azzie." He growled out his eyes glowing with rage as he snapped his fingers, the sword turning into a snake that turned and lunged at Azrael.

With another wave of his hands the rage consuming him as he banished the Archangel as far as he could. He knew that would only buy him a little bit of time.

He rolled over and moved deftly to his feet sliding into the room. He looked down and saw her.

His Lydia.

A shell of the women he knew.

"Oh Hade's below, what have they done to you Lyds." He rasped out.

He threw his hand up sealing the room completely to keep the two archangels out for a few minutes at least.

He could see her trembling, her head buried in her legs as she tried to protect herself.

It broke him seeing her like this.

"Come here Lyds… lets get you out of here, what do you say." He was slowly inching his way toward her, his fingers twitched slightly turning the sharp silver object in her hand into a soft plush black cat.

It was only then that she finally looked up at him, her body still trembling uncontrollably.

hr

Lydia had been lost in her head till she heard a commotion outside her door. Something was pulling her toward it, it was important. She couldn't stop the mantra still filling her mind until she saw the door fly open.

A flash of black and white and then it was gone.

And then her mind was blissfully silent.

Something surged up in her, it felt the same as what the silver light in her head had.

That terrified her more than anything as she dropped back down against the wall in the corner, she wrapped her arms around her legs to protect herself.

She hid her head not wanting to see what was going to happen, if they were finally going to kill her, she didn't want to see who her would be killer was.

She could hear a grunt of furry and a rough voice calling out to Azrael.

That voice! She knew that voice!

It sent goosebumps over her entire body, her hair on the back of her neck rising.

She scooted back against the wall more.

And then he was there in front of her.

She knew him.

Her memories fighting to return but still just out of her grasp.

She felt the letter opener in her hand change into a soft stuffed cat. Reminding her of the one that had been on her bed when she had been a teenager.

She gasped and looked up at the… man?

She could see his hand extending out to hers, he wanted her to go with him?

"Who are you?" she rasped out, speaking for the first time in weeks.

Betelgeuse felt all his energy sap out of him at Lydia's words.

He'd never in a million years would have thought that she would have forgotten him. Or had they taken her memories of him as well?

"You don't remember me? I'm the Ghost with the most?" he whispered knowing they were running out of time. It wouldn't be long, and Daniel and Azrael would be back with reinforcements.

Lydia squeezed her eyes closed; the pain was back. Just like it had been before when she had been on the verge of remembering something. "I can't… something, something is stopping it." She whispered looking up at him.

"Please." She rasped out, her voice shaky and weak as she begged for anything.

Anything was better than what she was dealing with there.

She held tight to the stuffed cat still in her hand.

Betelgeuse nodded slowly seeing the pain on her face as she tried to force herself to remember. Hopefully Vanth would be able to help with that. "Yeah, got somewhere safe we can go till this all blows over." He whispered and held his hand out for her again. "Just gotta hold on babes."

Lydia kept a hold of the small stuffed kitten and reached her hand out for him. His touch felt… safe, familiar.

Betelgeuse carefully pulled Lydia into his arms wrapping himself around her and snapped his fingers.

The two of them disappearing just as the door shattered from the outside and Azrael and his officers poured in.

hr

"Vanth!" Betelgeuse's voice broke through the darkness as he cradled Lydia into his arms, she'd passed out the second that he had her safely out of the hospital.

He stumbled slightly as he made his way toward Vanth's office. He saw Charun taking up guard at the gate. No one would get passed him.

Vanth heard Betelgeuse's voice echoing and threw open her door running out to him. She stopped seeing the young woman limp in his arms. The desperation in his voice had her assuming the worst… that they were too late.

"What happened." She hurried toward them.

"They set a trap for me, fuckers really thought that I didn't have any powers." He shook his head and shifted Lydia in his arms making sure that he didn't drop her.

"Where can I lay her down… I need to check her over… she... she doesn't remember me." His voice cracked.

Vanth frowned softly. "Did Daniel do that?" she asked.

Betelgeuse shook his head. "I don't think so… pretty sure it was done after the whole debacle between us. So, most likely underworld mind shit."

He followed her as she led him back through a small hallway and into a room that had all the amenities that they would need to get by till her birthday. He laid her gently on the bed. He snapped his fingers, her clothes changing from the gray drab hospital issued clothing to soft black pajamas. Ones she'd favored when he'd first met her.

He looked up at Vanth as he collapsed in the chair next to the bed. "Will you be able to help her with her memories… gonna be real fucking hard explaining to her about our bond if she doesn't even remember what happened the first go around."

Vanth nodded. "I should be able to… but if not, I do know someone that will be able to." She said not wanting to bring up Semyaza just yet.

Betelgeuse nodded and reached for the bandages on Lydia's hands. He concentrated on making sure that he didn't bump the wounds till he got them uncovered. He was silent as he worked knowing that Vanth was flitting about the room trying to stay close incase he needed her help.

He finally got the last of the gauze off her right hand and brushed his fingertips over the crescent shapes bloody marks embedded in the palm of her hand.

He knew what caused that… she had done that to herself. For what reason he didn't know. He let his energy build in his fingers and gently pushed it into each of the wounds watching them as they knit together and smoothed away leaving unblemished skin.

Betelgeuse repeated the same thing with her left hand and healed the marks before he gently pulled the blanket up around her. He brushed his hand over her forehead tenderly, pushing the hair back. It had gotten long in their time apart. She'd gone and grown up on him.

Rubbing his eyes tiredly he slumped in on himself trying to figure out what he needed to do next, not noticing that Vanth had slipped out leaving him and Lydia alone.

hr

Vanth slipped away shutting the door behind her and turned to head back to her office to make sure that everything was in order when Semyaza slid out of the shadows making her jump. She clapped a hand over her mouth to keep from screaming out.

"What are you doing here!" she whispered furiously pushing him toward her office.

Semyaza let himself be pushed toward the office and waited till the door was shut before he turned to her. "I told you that I would be back to set up a ward to keep those good for nothing meddlers away." He said his eyes narrowing. "I've already gotten word that the hunt is on. They want them both banished to the nether planes."

Vanth's eyes widened. That was the one place that no being wanted to be sent to. It meant complete annihilation of the soul. "How in Hade's did they get the write off on that." She whispered terrified for her friend.

Semyaza arched his eyebrows at her. "I told you, something is happening… changing all the rules and the Arch's are terrified for what that means for them… they are fighting it with all they have regardless of what rules they break in the meantime." He stood up and headed for the door. "I'm going to ward your sanctum… I won't have any danger come to my son or his bondmate." He said with steel in his voice.

Vanth could do nothing as she watched as the leader of the Fallen walked out of her office. He was one of the oldest Fallen, there had been whispers of him being one of _**His**_first sons. But no one would ever ask such a thing. It was a taboo thing to even think about.

All she could do now was wait for Betelgeuse's bondmate to wake up and she could assess the damage done to her mind.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

Azrael stepped into the office of his superior and stood still his jaw clenched as he waited for the reprimand.

He had failed.

He could see the back of high-backed chair in front of him, behind an immaculately clean desk.

It turned slowly as Samael came into view, his hands steepled together as he rested his elbows against his desktop and looked at Azrael.

"In all of your millennia of service, how many times have you failed me Azrael?" he questioned.

Azrael bowed his head in shame. "I have never failed you Sir."

"Until now, tell me what was so hard to make sure that a human girl killed herself!" he roared making the table shake with his anger.

"It was of the utmost importance that this be done and you have failed." He snarled standing up and moving in toward Azrael. His hand shot out gripping Azraels jaw yanking him toward him, his hand smoking has he failed to reign in his anger.

"You will find her, you will kill her and maybe I will forgive you." He pushed his hand away watching as the Archangel stumbled backwards. "You have less than 8 days. Do not fail me again"

Azrael regained his footing and bowed again to Samael. "Your will, will be done Sir." He said and disappeared.

Samael turned and looked out the window of his office, showing a glimpse of different places that he had thought that god forsaken Demon would have taken the girl. Nothing was showing up. He was getting more and more irritated.

hr

Vanth slipped back into the room looking at Betelgeuse, he hadn't left the girls side since he had brought her in the night before.

"Any change?" she asked gently not to startle him.

Betelgeuse looked up at Vanth and shook his head. He leaned back against the chair and looked over at his friend. "No… and what I've been able to see through her dreams… she's not really dreaming either. Figure a lot of it is getting all that shit they had her on out of her system."

Vanth nodded in understanding and conjured up a chair sitting down next to Betel. "There is something I need to talk to you about." She said looking at her oldest friend.

Betelgeuse looked at her his eyes narrowing. "Not liking the sound of that Vanny… what's going on?" he felt a sliver of panic that they weren't going to be safe there.

Vanth shook her head and rubbed her head gently, she wasn't going to be the one to tell Betelgeuse who his father was... that was something that needed to come from Semyaza.

"If I can't recover your bond mate's memories, I have someone that can, but you have to trust them, or it won't work."

Betelgeuse slowly stood up, his body cracking as he realigned himself. "Ok… so which one of your little Demon buddies do you have in mind?" he asked looking down at the stack of books that were sitting on a small reading desk. Curiously he flipped through them seeing that it was a book about how the line of the Necromancer started.

Vanth didn't move from the chair as she looked over at the girl. "Semyaza."

Betelgeuse froze and slowly closed the book replacing it on the stack before he stalked silently over to Vanth, his hands slamming down on the arms of the chair pinning her in place, his face uncomfortably close to hers as he spat out. "What, in Hade's name makes you think that I would trust that fucking piece of shit Fallen near _my Lydia_?"

Vanth jerked backwards her eyes widening as she leaned back to get away from Betelgeuse. "He is willing to help Betel… which is more than most would do." She whispered thickly.

"How does he even know that we are down here Vanth." He clenched his jaw to keep his anger from erupting.

Vanth swallowed hard as her gaze flicked to the door and back to Betelgeuse. "He was here after you left the first time, offered to help and I accepted it. He warded my sanctum so that none can enter."

Betelgeuse pushed away from the chair and stalked to the doorway of the room. He ran his hand over the frame from top to bottom and concentrated. Pushing his energy into his fingertips he sealed the door from everyone save himself and Vanth. IF someone else needed to come in, he'd be the one to fucking walk them in. He promised Lydia safety and he would be damned sure that he gave it to her.

Vanth watched Betelgeuse and knew that when it came to his bond mate, he would do anything to protect her… even going against the Leader of the Fallen. She wanted to scream and throw things. Those two needed to speak to each other before it blew up over something else. She had wondered why she had never seen it before, but now looking at the two of them and how they acted… Betel acted exactly like his father. She shook her head and stood up slowly walking over to Lydia. She brushed her fingers over her forehead just to see if her mind was settled. Closing her eyes, she let herself fall slightly into her subconscious.

It was still muted and hazy and she could see a young Lydia sitting in front of a mirror. She didn't dare go any closer not wanting her to pull up her defenses. Carefully she pulled back and looked at Betelgeuse.

"B… you need to see if you can reach her… she's projecting her mind-self as a young teenager." She said softly worried that everything had been too much and Lydia would be trapped in her own mind.

Betelgeuse frowned and moved over to Lydia. He pulled the chair up close to the bed and let himself lean in close to her as he rested his hand over her forehead. Closing his eyes, he let himself find their bond and followed it to Lydia's subconscious.

He kept himself in the shadows watching as a younger Lydia sat in front of an ornate mirror, a sheet laying on the ground at her feet. He looked at the mirror and realized it was the one that had been in her bedroom back when he first met her… that was the mirror that he had been in when she had called to him during the time that the Maitland's had left her to go and find out how to get rid of him.

Was this how her memories were being repressed?

He moved slowly out of the shadows and stood behind Lydia. "Lyd's… its time to come home." He said softly not wanting to scare her.

The young Lydia looked up at him, tears in her eyes as she threw herself into his arms. "I thought you left me!"

Betelgeuse was confused and tried to remember that this was just the way that her mind was trying to over come what had happened. "I'd never leave you babes." He assured her rubbing his hand over her back gently, trying to be soothing. He had no fucking clue what he was doing. He didn't do hugs!

"Just got sent away and couldn't find you. But I'm back now, never leaving your side again, that I promise!"

He could feel the way that young Lydia's body was shaking in his arms as she cried. "Can you tell me what's going on Lyd's… you remember what happened?"

He watched as she shook her head.

"They took you away from me… and then they left too." She whispered into his shirt.

"Then Daddy was so mad, he didn't want me anymore. Had a new baby with Delia."

"I heard him shouting with someone… about me."

"He's not my dad."

"Then they got rid of me too, just like they got rid of you…. Locked me up and threw away the key."

Betelgeuse was floored, that was not what he had been expecting to hear, dear old Chuck wasn't Lydia's dad? There was something to that. He could feel it in his bones.

"You don't ever have to worry about them again babes…. I promised you I'd keep you safe and that's what I'm going to do… but you gotta wake up for me."

He looked back down at Lydia and realized that she was no longer a little girl as she had been a second ago, now she was back to her normal self. He swallowed hard hoping that this meant that she remembered him now.

"I don't know how to."

Betelgeuse nodded. "Don't you worry, just close your eyes… and I'll see you in just a second ok." He said and pulled out of her mind after she had closed her eyes. He opened his eyes seeing that Lydia was shifting slightly on the bed and he knew that she was trying to wake up. "Come on babes, that's it open those brilliant eyes for me." He said and squeezed her hand.

The second that his hand slipped into hers he felt a shock of energy zing through them and Lydia's eyes flew open, she sat up gasping for breath still holding onto his hand for dear life.

Lydia had been stuck in the darkness of her mind, not truly asleep or awake, but that gray in between time. She had found herself once again in front of the mirror only this time, he was there.

Her savior.

He was something important to her. She just didn't know what it was yet.

He held her as she cried.

And then he was gone, and she panicked. She couldn't wake up.

Then she felt it. A surge of silver energy that snaked through her jolting her awake.

Her eyes snapped open as she gasped for air.

She wasn't in hospital cloths anymore… but pajamas she had grown out of years ago.

They were familiar and comfortable. Her hand gripped someone else's, and she turned toward them and something in her shattered to a million pieces. Her mind clearing for the first time in years.

"Betelgeuse." She whispered, his name passing over her lips for the first time in almost two years. Her eyes filled with tears as she realized how much of her memory had been taken from her. "They made me forget you." She whispered out her hand still gripping his tightly afraid that he would disappear.

Betelgeuse squeezed her hand gently. "Nothing is going to take me away from you again Babes…nothing."

Lydia finally realized that they weren't in any place she had ever been before. Her eyes going over every detail of the room. "Where are we?" she whispered suddenly worried that Betelgeuse would get into trouble for having taken her away from the hospital.

Betelgeuse grinned widely. "Welp, you told me you always wanted to see the Netherworld… here we are. Well, a part of it anyway." He glanced toward the doorway not sure if Vanth was going to come back in any time soon.

"How is that possible?" she whispered and reached up to feel her heart still beating in her chest. She was still alive.

"Did you forget that I'm the ghost with the most babes!" he said teasing her lightly. He was still nervous about everything that she needed to be told. He scratched the back of his head and stood up, letting go of her hand as he started to pace.

Lydia frowned as Betelgeuse stood up and let her hand go. It was silly that she found him holding her hand kept her feeling safe.

"Well to be fair, I did." She snarked crossing her arms over her chest. It was then that she realized that she didn't have the bandages on her hands anymore. She opened her hands and looked at them in amazement. " B… what… did you do this…" she asked looking down at the unblemished skin.

Betelgeuse was jerked out of his rambling thoughts and looked over at Lydia. "Yeah, sure did babes… didn't want to take a risk of them getting infected. Wasn't a problem with my juice flowing better than ever." He wiggled his eyebrows at her knowing he was being obnoxious.

Lydia felt a groan slip out of her mouth and she tried not to laugh. "Thanks…" her smile slipped into a frown as something occurred to her. "How is that possible… when they sent you away, they took your powers again? Didn't they?"

Betelgeuse shrugged his shoulders slightly and moved to sit back down. "See that's the part that you and I need to have a bit of a talk about…." He said hesitantly and reached back out to take her hand. Again, he could feel that underlying zing of power flowing between them. He looked up at her. "Can you feel that?" he asked carefully.

Lydia frowned as she looked down at her hand that Betelgeuse was holding. "Like static?"

"Yeah, just like that." He cleared his throat and looked down at her hand. "Shit babes… how the fuck do I say this." He groaned knowing that no matter what he said or how he said it… it didn't make it any easier.

Lydia worried her bottom lip between her teeth. "Just spit it out." She held up her hand seeing that he would most likely take that seriously just to be an ass. "Not literally."

Betelgeuse grinned roguishly. "You know me too well babes." He cleared his throat and frowned as he tried to find the right words.

"You remember that day, you all dolled up in that red dress… me in my matching number, looked pretty damn amazing if I don't say so." He trailed off seeing Lydia raise her eyebrow at him as he started to ramble. "Its like this… whatever we started… it was finished, not stopped." He said letting her draw her own conclusion from that.

He waited, watching her face as she turned over in her head what he had said.

Lydia's eyes widened. "Wait! Are you… do you…" She looked down at their hands still clasped together.

"_**We're married**_?!"


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

Vanth had been standing outside the door waiting for a good chance to enter with out startling either of her guests.

She covered her mouth trying not to laugh as she heard Lydia's yelled question.

Oh Betel, a way with words you don't have, she thought to herself.

She figured that she'd be nice and give Betel a break and stepped into the room wanting to check and see how the girl was now that she was awake.

Stepping into the room she waved her hand conjuring up a tea set, with steaming hot water and a selection of tea. "I thought that a bit of tea would be helpful while talking." She said watching the two of them.

Betelgeuse stood up and took the tray from Vanth. "Thanks Vanny… just was trying to explain things" he said a bit irritated that they were interrupted. But he had been fucking up things as usual, maybe it was a good thing she was there.

"Just was telling Lyd's about the whole bond thing."

Vanth nodded and looked over at the girl who still had a look of shock on her face. "Finding your bond mate is something very rare Betel."

Lydia looked between the two of them. "Wait, what is a bond… and a bond mate, I thought we were talking about marriage?" she was getting frustrated and the exhaustion was still taking a toll on her from her stay at the hospital. "Forget that, who are you and where am I?"

Betelgeuse glared at Vanth. "I was gettin' there before you had to butt your leather tits into the conversation." He muttered and turned back to Lydia. "Lyd's… this is Vanth. Gate Keeper to the underworld, Winged Demoness of Death, yada yada yada…" he trailed off and busied himself with making Lydia a cup of tea.

Lydia looked at the woman… demoness and tipped her head to the side slightly as she studied her. She had a leather breast plate on and no shirt, and a leather skirt that looked to be made from various furs. For a winged Demoness she was lacking in the wings department. She looked a the demon a bit puzzled by that. "Where are your wings?"

Vanth laughed softly and turned, her wings shimmering into view. "They are a pain in the ass if I leave them out all the time, think a cat and how its tail is and put two of them on your back." She smiled softly. "It's nice to meet you darling. I promise that you are safe here. No one can come in without me or Betel bringing them in." she assured her.

Lydia looked over at Betelgeuse and could see that he had changed since the last time that she had seen him. "Thank you both, I don't think that I would have lasted much longer there… I just, I don't know what's going on, why this happened." She said her voice dropping down into a whisper.

Betelgeuse sighed and looked at Vanth nodding at the door. This was something that he needed to tell her. He didn't think that she would take it all that great had it come from someone else.

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Vanth slipped out of the room shutting the door behind her. She headed for her office and sighed realizing that once again Semyaza was sitting there. "Do you want him to find you here? He wasn't happy to know you'd been here." She snapped out knowing that it would be any time now that those two would come to blows… and she would prefer her sanctum to remain in one piece.

Semyaza flipped through the book in his hands and looked at Vanth. "Don't you find it curious that she is having no issues being here in underworld." He asked curiously.

Vanth shook her head. "Not really, she's an awakening Necromancer, she shouldn't have any problems going from this plane to the one of the living."

Semyaza grinned his eyes dark as they sparkled with something in the hidden depths. "Oh, but Vanth, there is something so much more to it than that." He stood up and moved toward her. "You were just in the room with her and yet I can smell her power all over you, because she doesn't know how to pull it back, hide it…. Do you know who else has to do that?" he said nearly backing her into the wall.

Vanth reached out and put her hand to Semyaza's chest and held him there. "I don't know what you are talking about, but if you keep it up then Betel will know you are here." She said putting on a false bravado.

Semyaza wanted to rip his hair out. "You aren't getting it! That girl is not fully human! And it has nothing to do with her bloodline of Astarte." He growled. "You find out who that girl's father is before it comes back to bite us all in the fucking ass." He said and then with a frustrated growl slammed his hand against the wall before he disappeared.

Vanth slid down the wall trembling, hating herself for how weak that had made her feel. She needed to talk to Betelgeuse and find out what was going on.

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Betelgeuse brought over the cup of tea and handed it gently to Lydia as she sat up slowly in the bed more. "Look, I know there is a lot we have to talk about and there is going to be names thrown and probably books at my head… but one thing you gotta know babes, ain't nothing and no one gonna hurt you again."

He sat down in the chair he had been in the last day and a half and waited to see what she would do. He was so used to seeing her so vibrant with life, but now she was so thin, pale and lifeless. When he got his hands on those mother fucking Arch's they'd feel just how powerful he was.

It had taken him unleashing his energy against Azrael and Daniel to realize that his powers hadn't been bound, he had just forgotten how to use them properly. He'd been so used to siphoning them around the bindings that he had forgotten what it felt like to do it right.

Lydia watched Betelgeuse as she slowly sipped her tea, it was fixed just how she liked it and it made her wonder again, how much he had paid attention to her all those years before. "What's the difference." She asked finally breaking the silence.

"Difference in what babes?"

"Being married and being bonded." She said sipping her tea again her eyes never waivering from Betelgeuse's face.

Betelgeuse lifted his foot up crossing his ankle over his knee. " Marriage is for breathers… what we have… kind of goes beyond that. Its exactly what you think… we are connected together for eternity." He reached out and touched her letting his energy flow to her. "I can give you a bit of a boost… and you being bonded to me gives me a boost as well." He said.

Lydia narrowed her eyes at the feel of the soft warmth flowing through her fingers and up her arm. It felt like a warm fire on a cold day, soothing and seeping into her skin. "What kind of boost for you, does that mean that you aren't bound anymore… what about the thing on your name?"

Betelgeuse grinned his eyes sparking with mischief. "You can say my name as many times as you want to babes, I'm not going anywhere." He snapped his fingers and a steaming bowl of hot soup and fresh bread appeared on the tray. "Can you try and eat for me while I tell you what all has been going on."

Lydia could smell the soup; it was a rich chicken soup that had her mouth watering. She tore a piece of the bread off and let it soak up the broth before slowly taking a bite. It had been weeks since she'd had something that wasn't bland, boiled and over cooked. She savored the bite and closed her eyes as she chewed the bread slowly.

Watching Lydia eat shouldn't be as interesting as it was for Betelgeuse but for some reason, watching the life come back into her eyes, her cheeks getting a bit more color had him wanting to bring her everything and anything that she wanted. Just to see her getting back to a fraction of her old self. He wasn't going to answer her question about what kind of boost he got from the bond... just yet. It was something that would be answered when there wasn't so much distance between them.

"There are some books there, for you to go over when you are done eating and up for some book work." He said slowly trying to formulate in his head how to bring this up. "Back at the beginning times… things were a lot different. Archangels were known for fucking women and killing any children they had with them."

"Sometimes, the women would slip from their thrall and have the children alone, or they'd leave'm with another family to raise. But the thing is, having an Arch as a father… or even a Fallen as a father." He stopped seeing the confused look on Lydia's face. "Archangel or a Fallen Angel." He added for her understanding.

"Having either of them for a father meant that when that kid died, they didn't go on to the underworld like all other humans do…no, they get a life of immortality as a Demon, depending on how powerful the daddy is where they end up on the totem pole." He sighed. "But here is the tricky thing right, sometimes… something happens to throw fuck all over the rules. Purah, was a fallen angel who fell in love with a mortal woman, they had a daughter named Astarte." He stopped when he saw a far away look in Lydia's eyes.

Lydia felt like her world was closing in around her. She knew this story. Her mother had told her it when she was little. Telling her it was important for her to know it, to tell her daughter when it came time. She picked up the story where Betelgeuse left off. "Purah, who was the fallen angel of forgetfulness and conjuring the dead, loved his daughter and in her life gave her the gift of his magic. She is the mother of the arts, passed on from mother to daughter, line unbroken." She whispered and looked up at Betelgeuse.

"My mother… she told me that story when I was little. Told me it was important to remember it. I'd forgotten." She whispered.

Betelgeuse clench his jaw as he watched the uncertainty flash over Lydia's face. "Your mom was right. Not so much a story though." He said and cleared his throat. "You, are the last of the line, that bloodline that she has passed on." He watched her closely. "That's your birthright Lyd's." he said and reached out brushing his hand over the back of hers just to let her feel the bond, to know he was there.

Lydia's mouth was dry as she felt the surge of energy wash over her from Betelgeuse's touch. "Is it why the Archangels wanted me dead?" she whispered.

Betelgeuse nodded grimly. "Once you turn 18, you'll have your what they call 'awakening'. You'll come into your powers and begin to learn how to control them."

Lydia frowned again, it didn't make any sense… she didn't have any powers. She couldn't do anything to harm the Archangels, why would they want her out of the way? "What powers?" she asked her voice barely breaking a whisper. "What do they have to fear from me?"

Betelgeuse leaned back and looked at Lydia watching as she almost turned in on herself. "Think about it Lyds, you ain't no fucking slacker in the brains department. You know. If your momma taught you about Astarte's story. She told you more… think about it."

Lydia wanted to throw her soup at him but she held onto it instead. It was still steaming warm, the smell still enticing her to eat. But she had to know what was going on. She closed her eyes trying to remember everything that her mother had told her.

The whispered lessons of her childhood.

Cloaked in secrecy and fantasy… at least she had thought it to be fantasy at the time.

"Conjuring the dead… passed on from her father, to be passed on from mother to daughter." She opened her eyes and looked at Betelgeuse wanting to be wrong.

"Necromancy."

Betelgeuse grinned and clapped his hands.

"Bingo babes, you got it in one." His eyes held a darkness to them now that she hadn't seen before, but she found that still she wasn't afraid.

"Why do they want me dead." She asked needing that last piece of the puzzle for it to all make sense.

"What does one power player do when another equally powerful player suddenly comes onto the field and changes all the rules?" he asked watching her intently.

"Takes out the competition before they lose their power of course. And you my dear sweat Lydia… you are heads above the rest of the players and ready to burn the fucking rules to the ground."

Lydia could feel the shiver slip up her spine at his words. She should be telling him that he was wrong, but she knew deep down that he wasn't. She'd been told since she was a child old enough to remember that she would change the world.

Now she knew why.

She nodded once her jaw clenched in determination.

"Then I better make sure that I know everything before my birthday, then right?"

Betelgeuse let a slow smirk slip over his face as he leaned back in the chair watching the way that the acceptance had just rolled right over her, everything about her seemed to shift and he knew that this was just the beginning.

"I'll be right there by your side babes, till the end of time"


End file.
